Filling the Ground of the Elections with Struggle
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Turkey and North Kurdistan have passed the 31 March local elections, but the process continues especially with the attempts of Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party ( AKP ) towards changing the results in favor of themselves. Apart from these efforts, which actually keep on revealing the actual face of the fascist dictatorship, the local elections seem to stay on the agenda more, since it has brought new political dynamics for the struggle against Erdoğan's fascist chieftaincy regime.
It was clear that political meaning of the March 31 local elections was much more beyond electing only mayors. In this regard, the whole process has been considered and realized as a kind of a referendum on the fascist chief Erdoğan's 17-year rule.
Considering the deepening of mass discontent stemmed not only from the intensifying oppression of fascism and colonialist war but also the growing economic and political crisis, Erdoğan was willing to get over the local elections with a minimum loss before the upcoming four years which is considered to pass without elections. For this sake, the fascist alliance of his party AKP with fascist Nationalist Movement Party ( MHP ) based their election strategy on the discourse of "national survival" in order to keep their voter base, pointing out that local elections are actually a matter of country's existence. In this context, everyone against their bloody fascist rule, including a range from the bourgeois opposition to the progressive, democratic and revolutionary ranks of the society, bur the Kurdish people on behalf of the Kurdish liberation movement in particular, have been declared as traitors and terrorists threatening Turkey's progress. Besides, even the wholesale food dealers and local market laborers were presented to the masses as a component of the "terrorist lobby", being as the major responsible of the increasing prices. In short, rising hostility and chauvinism stood as the only mean left for the fascist dictatorship of Erdoğan in order to consolidate its illegitimate and cruel power towards the local elections.
The biggest share within this chauvinist discourse was, of course, reserved for the democratic front of the peoples of Turkey and North Kurdistan on behalf of Peoples' Democratic Party ( HDP ), in order to respond not only the need of this consolidation but also to preserve the control of the municipalities in North Kurdistan which were disseized by the colonialist dictatorship through trustees designated as mayors. Before the elections, HDP had announced its election strategy as aiming to win back the municipalities in North Kurdistan and to ensure the defeat of AKP-MHP alliance in the West. According to this dual strategy, HDP participated the local elections in North Kurdistan with its own co-mayor candidates, whereas in the West, it didn't nominate candidates for the major provinces such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir but called for voting against the AKP-MHP coalition.
The fascist chief Erdoğan, who has personally involved and directed the propaganda of his candidates on the field, specifically put the HDP on target throughout the whole election process. In this context, all the power under his rule such as military, police, judiciary, media, have been mobilized against HDP‘s electoral campaign. Along with a wide criminalization policy and a total censure on HDP's political propaganda, hundreds of HDP cadres were detained during the election process. Moreover, large numbers of AKP-MHP voters such as state officers and soldiers had been shifted to strategic places in North Kurdistan, as it is revealed on 31 March with the military convoys transferring soldiers to vote all across the region. The number of shifted soldiers-voters changed the election results in many Kurdish cities with low population.
However, despite all unequal and anti-democratic conditions, continuous military and civil oppression of state power especially over North Kurdistan, dirty manipulation of the media and various electoral tricks of the fascist dictatorship that was dominant during and after the elections, the fascist coalition of AKP-MHP remained far away from what they expected and got a significant defeat. The Kurdish people‘s will represent by HDP won back most of the municipalities in North Kurdistan and kicked out the trustees of the colonialist dictatorship. On the West, AKP-MHP coalition lost in many provinces, changing hand to the bourgeois opposition of Republican People's Party ( CHP ) and Good Party (IYIP) coalition, including the major ones such as Istanbul and Ankara, which have been ruled by the AKP and its priors for more than two decades. Not only in North Kurdistan but also in the major Western regions, the HDP voters marked as the major determinant factor of AKP-MHP coalition's defeat.
Indeed, regardless of AKP-MHP coalition's percentage of votes across the country, which is still around %51, or the numbers of municipalities changed hands, the local elections together with the post-election period resulted in a loss of psychological superiority for Erdoğan's power and a motivation for the opposition, as well as for the wide oppressed sections under the cruelty of fascism. However, this reality might be quite decisive for the struggle against the fascist dictatorship, unless it is considered in a correct way.
During the discussions within HDP before the elections, the communist component of the party had objected to the electoral strategy, emphasizing the importance of carrying out an electoral propaganda and organizational works in the West with own co-mayor candidates. The risk of letting the revolutionary potential to be reserved by CHP, which is steering more and more to rightist policies including nominating fascist candidates, as a result of leaving the oppressed classes without a revolutionary alternative in the West was one of the reasons of this objection. However, the majority of the will within HDP evaluated the aim of weakening AKP in the West is much more urgent under the intensifying conditions of fascism, even though at the expense of voting rightist/fascist candidates of CHP.
As it is once more proved with the statement of CHP's leader right after the elections, saying that his party is ready to take responsibilities to overcome the economic crisis, the bourgeois opposition presents no progressive and democratic programme for the broad oppressed sections living under the cruel conditions of the fascist capitalist Turkish state. It is quite clear that for the sake of preserving the gained municipalities from the seizing attacks of the dictatorship, the bourgeois opposition will continue to suppress the growing anger of workers, laborers, Kurdish people, women, youth within the limits of the order, rather than progressing their will reflected in the election towards a confrontation against Erdoğan's chieftaincy regime. Thus, this positive ground emerged after the elections, that is, the motivation and confidence gained by the loss of Erdoğan's AKP can survive as long as it is transformed into an organizational power of struggle which would manifest itself beyond the limits of the bourgeois order. As the communists pointed out in the context of the electoral strategy of HDP, this kind of a struggle seems to be the only way to secure the success of the elections.
The fascist chief received an unexpected blow from the elections that played a role of deepening the regime crisis. This may more likely to result in the intensification of fascist and colonialist aggression. So far, apart from various efforts towards renewing the elections in Istanbul, eight towns in North Kurdistan, which are actually won by the HDP co-mayor candidates, are disseized by the AKP through a scandalous ‘law' of the Supreme Election Committee, deciding that those who had been fired before by the decree laws cannot be mayors, even though their application was approved before the elections. In this regard, what's happening during only 15 days after the elections once again proves that fascism will never hesitate to use all de facto means for the sake of its illegitimate power. Thus, what will be decisive for the fall of the fascist dictatorship of Erdoğan is the perspective and practice of the revolutionary forces towards leaning on their own legitimate power, filling this advantageous atmosphere with a struggle line aiming to enhance the mass de facto confrontation.
 

 

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Filling the Ground of the Elections with Struggle
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Turkey and North Kurdistan have passed the 31 March local elections, but the process continues especially with the attempts of Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party ( AKP ) towards changing the results in favor of themselves. Apart from these efforts, which actually keep on revealing the actual face of the fascist dictatorship, the local elections seem to stay on the agenda more, since it has brought new political dynamics for the struggle against Erdoğan's fascist chieftaincy regime.
It was clear that political meaning of the March 31 local elections was much more beyond electing only mayors. In this regard, the whole process has been considered and realized as a kind of a referendum on the fascist chief Erdoğan's 17-year rule.
Considering the deepening of mass discontent stemmed not only from the intensifying oppression of fascism and colonialist war but also the growing economic and political crisis, Erdoğan was willing to get over the local elections with a minimum loss before the upcoming four years which is considered to pass without elections. For this sake, the fascist alliance of his party AKP with fascist Nationalist Movement Party ( MHP ) based their election strategy on the discourse of "national survival" in order to keep their voter base, pointing out that local elections are actually a matter of country's existence. In this context, everyone against their bloody fascist rule, including a range from the bourgeois opposition to the progressive, democratic and revolutionary ranks of the society, bur the Kurdish people on behalf of the Kurdish liberation movement in particular, have been declared as traitors and terrorists threatening Turkey's progress. Besides, even the wholesale food dealers and local market laborers were presented to the masses as a component of the "terrorist lobby", being as the major responsible of the increasing prices. In short, rising hostility and chauvinism stood as the only mean left for the fascist dictatorship of Erdoğan in order to consolidate its illegitimate and cruel power towards the local elections.
The biggest share within this chauvinist discourse was, of course, reserved for the democratic front of the peoples of Turkey and North Kurdistan on behalf of Peoples' Democratic Party ( HDP ), in order to respond not only the need of this consolidation but also to preserve the control of the municipalities in North Kurdistan which were disseized by the colonialist dictatorship through trustees designated as mayors. Before the elections, HDP had announced its election strategy as aiming to win back the municipalities in North Kurdistan and to ensure the defeat of AKP-MHP alliance in the West. According to this dual strategy, HDP participated the local elections in North Kurdistan with its own co-mayor candidates, whereas in the West, it didn't nominate candidates for the major provinces such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir but called for voting against the AKP-MHP coalition.
The fascist chief Erdoğan, who has personally involved and directed the propaganda of his candidates on the field, specifically put the HDP on target throughout the whole election process. In this context, all the power under his rule such as military, police, judiciary, media, have been mobilized against HDP‘s electoral campaign. Along with a wide criminalization policy and a total censure on HDP's political propaganda, hundreds of HDP cadres were detained during the election process. Moreover, large numbers of AKP-MHP voters such as state officers and soldiers had been shifted to strategic places in North Kurdistan, as it is revealed on 31 March with the military convoys transferring soldiers to vote all across the region. The number of shifted soldiers-voters changed the election results in many Kurdish cities with low population.
However, despite all unequal and anti-democratic conditions, continuous military and civil oppression of state power especially over North Kurdistan, dirty manipulation of the media and various electoral tricks of the fascist dictatorship that was dominant during and after the elections, the fascist coalition of AKP-MHP remained far away from what they expected and got a significant defeat. The Kurdish people‘s will represent by HDP won back most of the municipalities in North Kurdistan and kicked out the trustees of the colonialist dictatorship. On the West, AKP-MHP coalition lost in many provinces, changing hand to the bourgeois opposition of Republican People's Party ( CHP ) and Good Party (IYIP) coalition, including the major ones such as Istanbul and Ankara, which have been ruled by the AKP and its priors for more than two decades. Not only in North Kurdistan but also in the major Western regions, the HDP voters marked as the major determinant factor of AKP-MHP coalition's defeat.
Indeed, regardless of AKP-MHP coalition's percentage of votes across the country, which is still around %51, or the numbers of municipalities changed hands, the local elections together with the post-election period resulted in a loss of psychological superiority for Erdoğan's power and a motivation for the opposition, as well as for the wide oppressed sections under the cruelty of fascism. However, this reality might be quite decisive for the struggle against the fascist dictatorship, unless it is considered in a correct way.
During the discussions within HDP before the elections, the communist component of the party had objected to the electoral strategy, emphasizing the importance of carrying out an electoral propaganda and organizational works in the West with own co-mayor candidates. The risk of letting the revolutionary potential to be reserved by CHP, which is steering more and more to rightist policies including nominating fascist candidates, as a result of leaving the oppressed classes without a revolutionary alternative in the West was one of the reasons of this objection. However, the majority of the will within HDP evaluated the aim of weakening AKP in the West is much more urgent under the intensifying conditions of fascism, even though at the expense of voting rightist/fascist candidates of CHP.
As it is once more proved with the statement of CHP's leader right after the elections, saying that his party is ready to take responsibilities to overcome the economic crisis, the bourgeois opposition presents no progressive and democratic programme for the broad oppressed sections living under the cruel conditions of the fascist capitalist Turkish state. It is quite clear that for the sake of preserving the gained municipalities from the seizing attacks of the dictatorship, the bourgeois opposition will continue to suppress the growing anger of workers, laborers, Kurdish people, women, youth within the limits of the order, rather than progressing their will reflected in the election towards a confrontation against Erdoğan's chieftaincy regime. Thus, this positive ground emerged after the elections, that is, the motivation and confidence gained by the loss of Erdoğan's AKP can survive as long as it is transformed into an organizational power of struggle which would manifest itself beyond the limits of the bourgeois order. As the communists pointed out in the context of the electoral strategy of HDP, this kind of a struggle seems to be the only way to secure the success of the elections.
The fascist chief received an unexpected blow from the elections that played a role of deepening the regime crisis. This may more likely to result in the intensification of fascist and colonialist aggression. So far, apart from various efforts towards renewing the elections in Istanbul, eight towns in North Kurdistan, which are actually won by the HDP co-mayor candidates, are disseized by the AKP through a scandalous ‘law' of the Supreme Election Committee, deciding that those who had been fired before by the decree laws cannot be mayors, even though their application was approved before the elections. In this regard, what's happening during only 15 days after the elections once again proves that fascism will never hesitate to use all de facto means for the sake of its illegitimate power. Thus, what will be decisive for the fall of the fascist dictatorship of Erdoğan is the perspective and practice of the revolutionary forces towards leaning on their own legitimate power, filling this advantageous atmosphere with a struggle line aiming to enhance the mass de facto confrontation.